Now, the sides have finally come to an agreement. Willis will be used as a starting pitcher, previously a point of contention between the pitcher and the club, and Willis has dropped the grievance.

Willis will report to the Orioles' extended spring training team in Sarasota tomorrow to build his arm strength for a starting role, and he'll eventually report back to Norfolk, his agent, Matt Sosnick, said.

"They reached out to Dontrelle personally a couple times," Sosnick said. "The whole thing took too long. I still don't understand it."

Willis was 0-2 with a 4.91 ERA in three relief appearances over 3 2/3 innings for the Tides before leaving the team in late April.